The 2007 ECMH interns
Psychology Internships
Early Childhood mental health program
The Early Childhood Mental Health Program (ECMH) at Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland provides a range of specialized services for infants, toddlers, preschoolers and their families. The main focus of the program is on children from birth to age 3, but children can receive services up to age 6. The program also houses the Parent Infant Program (PIP), a well-known early intervention program for children with developmental disabilities. The Irving B. Harris Early Childhood Mental Health Training Program is also part of the services offered by ECMH.
Staff of the program includes psychologists, developmental specialists, clinical social workers, and MFTs. Our staff is diverse and multilingual, as are our clients. ECMH works closely with medical groups in the hospital such as the Neonatal Follow-Up Program and other specialty care groups. Training at the Early Childhood Mental Health Program offer many opportunities to work in multidisciplinary teams, to learn about complex systems of care, and to build clinical skills working with young children and their families using a relationship-based model. The Early Childhood Mental Health Program has a large staff that is organized into specialty teams. These teams include:
- Two Community Attachment and Relationship Enhancement (CARE) teams which provide a community-based infant and early childhood mental health program to the general community. These services are clinic and home-based.
- Families in Recovery Staying Together (F.I.R.S.T.)—This program has teams in two residential drug treatment programs and one community day treatment setting. Our teams have worked with the drug treatment staff to design group and dyadic treatment services to support women in recovery and their children.
- Therapeutic Guidance for Infants and Families (TGIF)—This program provides group and dyadic treatment services to children and families who are in the child welfare system.
- An assessment team provides specialized relationship and developmental assessment for all of the teams.
The Early Childhood Mental Health Training Program has psychology training opportunities for:
- Psychology Interns
Psychology Interns will be assigned to a primary team and will have a variety of training opportunities and practice opportunities in assessment, treatment planning, and intervention. - Psychology Fellows
Psychology fellows will have increased responsibility, more opportunities to be involved in assessments, and opportunities to be carry out community consultations. - Practicum Students
Practicum students will be involved in group programs.
Goals of the training
In addition to the common goals of the psychology training program, a primary placement in the Early Childhood Mental Health Program incorporates these goals:
- To develop a knowledge base in the fields of attachment theory and child development, and the ability to apply this knowledge to a variety of clinical situations.
- To learn a model of dyadic/family therapy which is grounded in best practices and current evidence-based practices.
- To learn techniques and approaches appropriate for group/parent therapy and for parent/child dyadic groups.
- To learn how to work on multidisciplinary teams and build skills in consultation and collaboration with a variety of service systems such as drug treatment, social services, education and family support services.
- To become familiar with a variety of assessment procedures appropriate to the needs of very young children.
- Depending on their assignments, trainees and fellows will receive specialized training in a specialty area such as drug treatment, the child welfare system or community consultation.
Primary supervisors
Mary Claire Heffron, PhD
Barbara Ivins, PhD
Lucia Milburn, PhD
Ellen Salwen, PhD
Judith Solomon, PhD
Other supervisors and training staff
Donna Davidovitz, PhD
Laura Frame, LCSW, PhD
Sara Grunstein, LCSW
Ayannakai Nalo, LCSW
For application information click here.
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